


Chasing the rabbit for you

by hawkeyescoffee



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Angst with a Happy Ending, Background Amane Misa/L/Yagami Light, Background Character Death, Background Poly, Getting Back Together, Idiots in Love, K-Science (Pacific Rim), Linda is a good bro, M/M, Mutual Pining, Near is a good bro, Near is so done, Post-Relationship, Saving the World, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2019-11-15 13:51:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18074612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawkeyescoffee/pseuds/hawkeyescoffee
Summary: The lab fell silent. Lidner and Giovanni were leaning over a list of chemical components of kaiju blood but Near heard that they were holding their breath. Raster’s chalk haled mid equation. His finger griping so tight his knuckles turned white.It’s so typical for you to take his side.”, Mello’s tone grew softer as he walked into Matts personal bubble, but in the tense quiet it felt like a gunshot of accusation. The red heads face twisted in a split second of anger. “There are no sides, Mello. We are all trying to help. God-damn-it! You are so obsessed with being I don’t know, better than Near, that you cant even be rational anymore. I cant- ”“Oh, hey! Guys, we’re in time.”, Misa Amane fell into the room and made everyone look at her.The Pacific Rim AU no one asked for





	1. Chapter 1

Mello stormed into Chief Yagami’s office with the intention to complain.

  _Very_ vocally.

But when he opened the door, he was greeted by five disapproving faces. Well, three exhausted faces, as if the _thought_ of him yelling was robbing them of energy already. Misa Aname’s way to cheery face and Nate’s, _Near’s_ blank expression.

The Chief sighted and turned away from his son and Lawliet, short L, who both seemed to be here to complain too. (And he almost felt pity for the former police chief.) Misa just stood there as she probably just followed her Co-Pilots. And Near? Near was his usual annoying self.

(The fact that Near didn’t need to do much to be filed as annoying in his book, was promptly ignored. He wasn’t annoying when he stopped breathing. Maybe.)

“Keehl.”, Yagami was addressing him with a strict voice, “The tryouts for your new partner will begin tomorrow. I don’t want to hear again how you want to pilot your Jaeger alone. You need a new Co-Pilot.” Mello clenched his teeth. He didn’t want anyone new, that he had to let into his head. It was bad enough that he had to let Ross in and he fucking hated that guy, who managed to make him miserable beyond the grave. With the burn scars that his reckless maneuver left him with. He-

With a forced inhale, he steeled himself against the bitter spiral down his thoughts were going, while also resisting to touch his scared skin. It had no use to dwell on past mistakes and regret like this. He was here for a reason; he had a goal, something to work forward to.

Mello had an idea.

“Cancel the tryouts, Chief.”, Yagami just shot him _that_ kind of look. Mello ignored it and elaborated: “I know who I want for the _Knight Rose_. His name is Mai-“

“You can’t just choose anyone you want Mello! You have to be drift compatible!”, Misa interjected. Loud. And unnecessarily. 

(Maybe Near wasn’t the most off-putting person in the room. The Aname girl came close at least.)

Glaring at her, he barked: “Do you think I don’t know that?” And to the Chief he added (somewhat) calmly: “His name is Mail Jeeves, even though he could be going by Matt these days. Last I spoke to him he worked at the wall in Sydney.” The wall that didn’t work and was breached like a paper construction. The reason why it was so imported to make the last few Jaegers fully operational. “He is trained in Combat and we were very close friends as children. It should work.”, he concluded.

Mello saw the eyebrow Near lifted in a silent question. The two and Matt had visited the college of Europe together. So, Near was the only one in the Jaeger Project who knew just how _close_ the pair of friends were in college. Ignoring him, Mello looked at Yagami again, who was pinching the bridge of his nose. Well, he had a lot on his plate and if Mello was a less selfish person, he would leave it be.

“Ugh, fine. I will see what I can do. But if we don’t find him in two days or you turn out not to be compatible. You will try the people Matsuda found. Understood?”

 _Because Matsuda is so competent_ , Mello thought but just answered with a dutiful “Yes, sir.” bevor the chief was shushing him out of his office to deal with whatever Light Yagami had to bring up about L. (again)

Mello made it just a bit down the hallway before he heard the door open and close again, but no one addressed him. With a deep breath he turned because being in a room with Near was already getting on his nerves. The prospect of getting a lecture for contacting Matt in that way from him? Unbearable. (What did that little robot understood about human interaction anyway?)

“Do you really think it is worth it?”, Near asked quiet as soon as Mello looked at him. The Albino stood there in the darkness of the base. With his white clothes and lab coat he resembled a ghost, dark eyes fixed on his old rival. God, Mello hated him for being the better scientist. Once upon a time he really wanted the job that Near had right now, but next to the younger one he was the eternal number two.

Sometimes he thought about what his life would be like if he was the one that lead the K-science unit. Spending his time down in the safety of the laboratory’s, away from the fighting, from the horrors. But that was Near’s job and frankly the team seems overall so incompetent at times that he would have probably murdered one of them by now.

“We will see.”, he replied as cold as possible and left him standing there. One good thing about Near was that he usually minded his own damn business.

“Doctor River?”, Mello heard Lidners voice, but he wouldn’t turn around to face the chemist. Mello still felt Nears eyes on him. Well, he didn’t need to turn around to know how the scene behind him unfolded. The blonde woman standing in the corridor behind the chief’s office, a clipboard in hand, waiting for her superior to follow her back to supervise what ever they thought they found. Near sighed as he followed her.

Suddenly exhausted Mello made it to his room in the quarter wing of the shatter dome. His was by far the only plain door in the whole section, because even L and Lights door had a simple name tag on it, while Madsuda did glue little robot stickers to Nears. The former never bordered to get rid of them.

(Mello was pretty sure that dumb bitch boy secretly liked them.)

Misa had fucking fake roses nailed to the frame (black ones of course) and A and B had a frustratingly cringey keep out sign on it that was ever so slightly loop sited and definitely Beyond’s doing. Everyone that lived in the dome and not outside in the city had a room here. For a moment he was debating if he should go to one of the community kitchens, maybe steal L’s chocolate cake but his head pounded, and his skin seemed to tighten almost unbearable. He just needed a break.

Inside he let himself plop on the bed face first and groaned. This day needed to end already. It was too much. Would Matt come back to him? Ugh. His stomach dropped at the thought of the possibility that he wouldn’t. Quitting the Jaeger program was not an option. They needed every pilot they got, every robot, but letting a new stranger into his head was not really a solution either. It was too hurtful, _too much_.

His hand came up to the unharmed side of his face and rubbing it. The pressure against his skull didn’t subside. With a sigh he got up and pulled his black shirt over his head and toed out of his leather pants on the way to the adjoining bathroom. He needed a shower and sleep (and maybe a better life)

(He knew it could have been worse. He did what he always wanted in a way: He made himself useful for society; he protected people)

When the warm water hit his back, the world looked a little bit brighter already. The sore muscles under Mello’s skin relaxed with a dull ache. He wanted to be positive; to hope that Matt will come back to him. The red head was an important part of his life for so long, losing him for good would be devastating. The thought of Matt saying outright, that he didn’t need Mello in his life anymore broke his heart.

As a child Mihael did move to Scotland from Yugoslavia with his parents and he absolutely hated it. He missed his friends, his home and everything about the UK was foreign, and scary. None of his classmates wanted him there. The only kid that talked to him or at least tried to, was the little awkward Mail “Matt” Jeevis and they were best friends in no time.

From there on out thery were inseparable.  

Warm and tired he crawled back into the lower bed of the bunk, really hoping sleep would take him fast.

But well he couldn’t have nice things, could he?

 

Not even 24 hours later Mello was sitting in the mass hall anxiously. The chief did find Matt and sent out Mogi and Aizawa to ask him to join the remains of the Jaeger project. And Mello? He was left overthinking. What if Matt was mad at him? What if he said no? He didn’t want to drift with someone he didn’t know and trust, not again.

A was trying to get his attention from across the table where he and B had seated themselves without asking Mello and now, he was trying to talk to him. Why people couldn’t just leave him alone was beyond him. At least B didn’t give a shit but then again, he was really creepy. Together they piloted _Crimson Thunder_ a red jaeger with deadly precision, which killed a lot of kaijus.

“Are you alright, Mihael?”, A still looked concerned, his dark brown eyes scanning over Mello as if to find a physical explanation for his unease. Not to mention that he didn’t like to be referred to by his legal name. But A and he weren’t friends at all, almost strangers, co-workers at best.

Adam, _A_ , was a tall, lanky man, who, despite his intellect and calm and soothing personality, was way too caring for Mello’s taste. And well, for some reason that was not in the slightest explainable to the blonde, A was drift-compatible and friends with _B_.  B, who tolled everyone who was willing to listen (or not) that his full name was _Beyond Birthday_. And that was all you had to know, to know that you should stay away from him.

In the background Light, L and Misa were arguing about…? What exactly, he couldn’t tell. It sounded like Misa accused Light of flirting with Takada, a member of the military staff and L and Light were reassuring her that he in fact didn’t, but _she_ tried to ask _him_ out. Misa wouldn’t have any of it though. Mello had no clue how their relationship worked but it was strong enough to let them make the drift as a trio in their white jaeger _Striker Justice_.

He knew that Yagami and Amane were romantically involved, but how L fitted in the picture? He honestly didn’t know. (He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know) L was someone Mello deeply respected from a young age; a great scientist that was almost larger than life for all the students at the college of Europe but spending time with the real man here, was somewhat disappointing. L just outright left K-science to pilot himself, together with his greatest rival (and his dumb girlfriend).

 _Who_ cared about them?

Before he had to think of anything to answer A, (who still looked concerned.) Matsuda came over with a smile to tell him he could meet Matt in their (now) shared room and then they needed to test their compatibility with Near and his team later (ugh).

First Mello was excited, then his anxiety hit thru the roof and dropped cold in his stomach, leaving just sickening nausea.  God, this could go wrong in so many different ways. It was scary. Mello hated to not be in control and right now all control was taken from him. What would or wouldn’t happen next was entirely in Matts power and Mello dreaded every minute of it.

Kind of unsure and angry about that, he hesitated before his _own damn_ door.

When he finally walked in, he was greeted by a very familiar mess of red hair in the upper bunk. Matt looked a bit rougher around the edges than in college, wearing ripped jeans and a striped jumper under a light leather jacket, there was a shadow of a brownish beard.

When he noticed Mello, he smiled bright, green eyes shining _. Fuck_.

Now that he was standing there Mello had no idea what to do. How do you talk to someone who you were close to most of your life but haven’t really seen in years?

 But he didn’t have time to overthink much because Matt didn’t hesitate (bitch.) and pulled him into a tight hug. Mello melted into the embrace and may or may not forgot how to breath. Because this. This felt so much like _home_. _Matt_ was _home_.

It took him all of his self-control to bring distance between them again. To focus on what they needed to do. “Hey.”, his eyes were skimming over the scar tissue and became slightly sad and regretful, Matt still hasn’t stopped smiling though. Mello had to swallow hard. God, he wasn’t a teenager anymore. So much happened they had so much to talk about, but now was not really the time.

For a lack of anything better to say, he grinned easily and greeted back. Like it hasn’t been five years, like they didn’t fight horribly the last time they saw each other. It was easy; with Matt it was always easy.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enter Actual Human Desaster™ Mail Jeevas

Matt didn’t know what to say, when the two men found him, sitting on top of the ruins smoking. They looked serious (okay at least the guy with the afro did) and highly uncomfortable in the Sydney heat in their heavy military uniforms with high cladded collars and dark combat boots. 

The smaller one of them shot him a friendly smile, and he shifted a little. He looked like shit and he knew it. Since the Wall has proven to be a failure, money was tight. What else should he be wearing than an old bottom up shirt with a pattern of washed in stains, a torn former working jean, and the dirtiest sneakers you ever saw? His dark red hair was way too long, the googles around his neck were smudged- When was the last time he shaved? Okay, maybe he looked like a homeless person but there was nothing to _do_ here. Not anymore.

He just existed somewhere here in Australia, far away from home and the person he used to be.

“Mr. Jeeves? I am First Lieutenant Aizawa.”, professional Afro spoke, trying not to look too sweaty, “this is Second Lieutenant Matsuda. We are here to recruit you for the Pan Pacific Defense Corps’ Jaeger Program. We-“ Matt ogled at them, somewhat dumbfounded. “What?” That was very intelligent. “I thought there is not much left of the Program since the UN stopped the founding?”

He made his way down to the rubble and didn’t look as graceful as he could have had.

“Right now, there are not many Jeager we can employ that’s why we need every pilot we can get. There are not even ten robots we can man. We-“

The small, happy one- Matsuda- rambled on, until his college hit him across the head.

“I’m not a pilot.”, Matt just shrugged. He still didn’t understand why these soldiers even talked to him. Working on the defense wall here was only a way to make ends meet, a dangerous but good payed Job for a college drop-out. He didn’t even think it would work (and ultimately it didn’t). After the Kaiju’s broke through the wall so easily, the government started to relocate Cities more into the country to conjure an illusion of safety.

“Like we said, every pilot counts since it’s hard to find people who are drift compatible. One of our veteran pilots was very…”, Aizwa kind of cut him self off with an awkward cough.

Matt raised an eyebrow. He had an idea who they referred to but obviously it _can’t be_ that…

Not after _all those_ years.

Not like _this_.

Right?

Frowning he showed a sweaty hand through his hair, for a lack of things to keep his hands busy.

“He is very sure that you can replace his recently deceased co-pilot. The Chief-Gen-“

His heart dropped cold in his stomach. Trying to separate his lips that formed a tight, bloodless line, to contain his rage, (because it didn’t matter how hard he tried to play the part and appear put together. He was still angry and hurt.) Matt shoved past the soldiers. The need to leave was slowly becoming overwhelming.

“You can tell Mello to shove this bullshit idea up his-!”

“Wait! Mr. Jeeves.”, Matsuda interrupted him quickly and clumsily, reluctant the red head turned, only to have a business card showed in against his chest. Green eyes flickered quickly between the piece of paper and the man offering it. “We have to report back until, if you change your mind until then, give us a call.”

Why was he so sure, the other would change his mind? Matt was not able to answer but took the card nonetheless and left silently.

He could hear them start a stage whisper argument behind his back.

The door of his car was closed with more force than strictly necessary, it was _waaaay_ too hot inside, but Matt didn’t really care. He dropped on the driver’s seat and tried to remember how to breath with moderate success. He needed to talk to someone about all this shit. _Ugh_. He-

God, he wished he _knew_ what he wanted.

He knew he _needed_ to talk to somebody, but he didn’t exactly have friends anymore.

Sure, when there was still work, he had colleagues, with whom he would go to the pub after shifts sometimes, but not really anyone he would let close. Only enough human interaction to not go completely mad.

Franticly rubbing his face, Matt made a decision. The anger still burned staidly inside him, a piercing sensation that crawled restless underneath his skin, but he can’t let that influence his decision.

_~~Mello wouldn’t come up here in person.~~ _

With a sharp jerk he turned the keys in the look, the motor growled, and he drove off without a second thought. Overthinking would do him no good.

It felt like no time at all passed at all, when he came to a squeaking halt before the gates of the small but luxurious home. The fence was iron clad but had a soft curly pattern to it. The sun was setting already, leaving the house to cast a long shadow over Matt. He rang the bell and saluted to the camera when the red dot sprint to life, wordlessly the gate clicked open and he walked around the house onto the private shore of the owner.

The rest of the beach strip was vacated. Yeah, the rich were usually the first to get evacuated. Near the water, a woman was sitting in the sand, sketching. A smirk crawled over his features. Linda has been stubborn as long as he knew her. The sand budged under his weight as he made his way to the blonde. The breeze picked at her fine long hair, when he seated himself next to her. Warm sand underneath his hands “Hey.”, Linda didn’t look up but smiled anyway.

For a while they just sat in silence while she finished up and he watched the sun being swallowed by the Pacific Sea. The composition of the waves and the pen scribbling over the paper, almost eased up his anger. But it was not that easy, was it?

When they were left in the dark coldness of the beginning night the girl turned to look at him for the first time that day. Bright grey eyes fixed on his face. “What’s wrong with you today Matthew?”, she asked. A scattered breath, that could have been a laugh, snuck past his lip and with an easy eyeroll he angled his body differently to face her better. She wore a light blouse that showed off her sleeve tattoos, as well as the back piece that crept up her neck past the fabric in a swirl of color. “Why does anything have to be wrong to visit my friend?”, he ignored the fact that his name was not Matthew deliberately.

Pale eyebrows shot up at the word ‘ _friend_ ’. Okay, fine, there were not really friends, were they?

Drinking buddies that occasionally shagged, was probably more like it.

~~Fuckbuddies that occasionally got shit-faced together?~~

Linda was a somewhat successful artist, with really wealthy parents. She was also one of those rich kids who had a really bad relationship with their parents. And she was obsessed with the Kaijus. (It was that bad).

But as she just grinned at him and made him go inside her way to big house.

Linda has seated herself in one of the cozy armchairs in her living room, bottle of whiskey in her hand, two glasses in the other. Matt sighed and rubbed his face again, but ultimately sit down on the couch next to the chair and holding the glasses for her to pour. “Is it about that ex-boyfriend of yours?”, she asked, casually taking a sip. That means she won’t wait for him to say cheers first (rude, mate). And that means she was not here for him to bullshit and have a pity party and that he should come straight (lol) to the point. He lifted his drink and without thinking too much swallowed half the glass, ignoring the bitter sensation of mouth and throat. Whiskey and anxiety burning warm in his chest.

“He was not my boyfriend.”, he then said instead of being proactive in the situation. Linda rolled her eyes, drank again and placed the whiskey on the coffee table. “Not the point.”, she points out, while doing so, “You wished he was; you still wish he could be.” Maybe she right is but he didn’t want to hear it anyway.

“So, what did he say or do to make you this…”, she made a lazy gesture over his everything, “emotionally imbalanced?”. He scoffed again, setting his drink aside. “PPDC soldiers tracked me down to offer me a spot in the remains of the Jaeger project.” A part of Matt that maybe he shouldn’t be so blunt about the offer, but well, the expression on Lindas face was priceless. “Wait a min- Wait.”, she stuttered out, “He is a jaeger pilot now?” He just shrugged:” It seems that way.” What else was he supposed to say? 

“Dude! You got to take the job!”, she was coming uncomfortably close to his face. “What? No!”, he shoved her a bit, halfheartedly, but she took his face in her hands and starred (Were they doing this now?). “I won’t come crawling back to him, just because he called! Ugh, what am I? A kicked puppy?” “For fucks sake!”, Audibly annoyed, she used her left hand to smack him lightly against the forehead, still holding his face with her right. “This is not about who of you is more likely to out stubborn the other! Didn’t you say you were into K-science with blondie and Newt? Was the Albinos name Newt?” “ _Near_.”, Matt provided, “And Mello also has a name.”

She waved the correction away like it was nothing and backed up into her armchair again. “What I’m trying to say is you know exactly how to pilot a jaeger-“

“In theory, sure, but that’s not even the most important thing. You have to drift-compatible to take the jump with another person and that depends on personality and relationship. The stronger the bond between two people, the better and more efficient they can work the jaeger. Something that can decide between life and death in combat.”, he hunched over and put a hand on Linda’s arm, who was so excited it made him want to puke. “Yeah, I know, that you have to be basically soulmates to do the piloting, but, Matt, you were best friends all your life and you were in love with each other; you are still in love-“

“I haven’t seen Mello in five years. I have no idea what he did go thru since then. I don’t know what kind of person he is right now. I don’t know how he feels about me, or ever felt...”, the last part was very quiet.

She sighed and looked for a moment as if she wanted to pick up the bottle again, but just crunched her nose in the end in an almost adorable manner. “But if you don’t go, you’ll never find out. And isn’t it better to know and have closure and move on, than sit here and wonder and pitting yourself.”

Matt grabbed his glass and emptied it, alcohol burning hot, hot, hot. He hated when Linda was right, and he told her so. With a humorless chuckle she settled back in; a tight slummed over the armrest. “You should go. I won’t tell you anything different.” Matt scoffed and got up to get ahold the whiskey. Linda shot him a dirty look. “And you shouldn’t get piss drunk right now.”, she added. A Hand around the bottles neck, he made his way back, only swaying a little bit.

Okay. Maybe a little more, than a little bit, by Linda’s shit eating grin.

“So…”, he pours himself with a tremor, that he ignores. “You think I should go?” Linda throws a pillow after him. “Yes, you should go. What else do you want to do? What is there to do, here?” The pillow met the wall around three meters next to his head, uselessly. (Seems he is not the only one that’s getting shit-faced tonight.)

Ignoring her and her logic Matt drank; swallowing the whole glass, ignoring the pain and after a few moments everything was damped, softer. Everything was soft and easy and spun, spun. “Yeah, you are right. I should see Mello.” Her arguments didn’t sound so unreasonable anymore. Maybe he needed to put aside his pride and bitterness to help. Because she was right. There was nothing left for him in Australia and going back to the UK was also not really an option. So, why not try to help with the world saving? The worst that could happen was that Mello was wrong and they weren’t compatible.

“Of course, I am right, sweetie.”, Linda snatched the bottle from him as he was distracted and cradled it in her lap. Shooting him a disapproving look when he moped around with his empty glass. “Don’t look at me like this, Matthew. You shouldn’t get to drunk if you go too Shanghai tomorrow.”, she repeated.

Linda got up, putting the bottle back in her liquor cabinet, took both glasses to bring them to the kitchen, but Matts world was too washed out to put on a fight. Maybe he had enough alcohol already. With a last drop of common sense, he texted the number Matsuda gave him to confirm that he will be there, and the soldier answered almost right away with a time and meet up location. He passed Linda the phone, so she knew too. She smiled at him and asked if he wanted to sleep in the guest room or her bed, but he became so heavy that he wasn’t sure if he could get up from the couch even if he wanted to. So, she flung a blanket at him and bits his drunk ass good night.

When Matt woke up again, he could have died.

On the spot.

But Linda would not _let_ him.

She nugged him softly and when he barely responded, as his world came in focus again, she pushed him almost off the couch. The sensation of falling startled him awake and he hold on to the edge for his life, leaving him uncomfortably nauseous. After he brought his butt on the cushion again and didn’t feel like throwing up in exactly that minute; he shot her a death glare. It wasn’t really effective. Especially because he immediately caved in, because Linda was offering him pain killers and a tall glass of water. (God, he was hungover.)

(Ugh. Drinking with an empty stomach was never a good idea.)

She dragged him to a car, plus driver. (Of course.) and so they made their way through Sydney. Linda poked fun at him a bit. Apparently, the conversation they had last night was not as short or coherent as he remembered.

She also reassured him, that she would keep his beloved car save.

Still feeling like shit clinging to the sole of a shoe, he moved to get out of the car, but Linda pulled him into a hug. “Be careful, Matt.” He smiled into her hair. “You too, love.” After she let go of him, she beamed at him. “Good luck with your boyfriend.”

“Still not my boyfriend.”, Matt whispered, got up and greeted the Japanese men, who shoved his hungover ass into an actual helicopter. (Because why not?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go again. I hope yall having fun. :)  
> OFC I had to make references to my favourite PR Character Newt <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Near’s not so good, really terrible work day and Matt having not a problem (at all)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!  
> I'm sorry I'm so late but I can't promise it won't happen again.  
> So. who is here for Near/Matt friendship?

Near was already done. Those jackasses were in his lab for two minutes and he wanted nothing more than kick them out again to have some peace and quiet. But well, he had to do his job after all. They were very obvious very awkward around each other and had obviously not talked to each other yet. That fact alone annoyed the shit out of Near. They knew what the drift did to people. They knew how irresponsible it was to come here with this kind of undealt feelings. And Near didn’t have the emotional energy to deal with this again. The worst part was, that he was glad to see Matt again. They used to be friends and Near had missed him. Because he didn’t have many friends. Being around Matt had always been easy. Furthermore, Matt had always balanced the tense relationship he and Mello had. Near watched his team dance around a visibly fuming Mello, who leaned against the door frame. Matt wandered around the lab watching the biocomponents they acquired over the years with a trained eye.

“You came a long way, Near.”, Matt smiled honestly at him. “I’m proud of you.” Near ignored Mello scoff in his little corner. “Thank you.”, he said instead. Near also knew that him smiling would put his team more on edge (since he barely did so) but he couldn’t bring himself to care.

“We have time to catch up later.”, he than added and gestured to a pair of portable Pons . “Yeah, sure, I’d like-““Why do we have to use those old ass-“ Matt shoved Mello for interrupting him, interrupting the blonde in return.

“Chief Yagami doesn’t want you to drift in the jaeger in case something goes wrong.”, Near than explained somewhat patiently. (He really, really wasn’t patient, but he had to appear to be.) “Nate, that’s bullshit!”, Mello apparently wasn’t in the mood to cut him some slack.

(When was the last time someone called him Nate?)

“You know that it was a test drift with one of his candidates, we would be in the god-damn jaeger!” A comforting hand shot up and nestled in his white hair, but otherwise he didn’t react much. Mello was usually all bark and rarely bite. “Listen. I didn’t make this decision.”, he said.

“Hey, man. Leave him alone.” Mello made a sharp (dramatic) turn in Matts direction, who was squatting next to the container with the partial kaiju brain Rester and Giovanni literally secured knee deep in dead alien monster. “Excuse me?”, his tone went bitter fast.  “you heard me.”, Matt shrugged but held his chin high. “Stop picking on Near for orders he has no control over.”

The lab fell silent. Lidner and Giovanni were leaning over a list of chemical components of kaiju blood but Near heard that they were holding their breath. Raster’s chalk haled mid equation. His finger griping so tight his knuckles turned white.

“It’s so typical for you to take his side.”, Mello’s tone grew softer as he walked into Matts personal bubble, but in the tense quiet it felt like a gunshot of accusation. The red heads face twisted in a split second of anger. “There are no sides, Mello. We are all trying to help. God-damn-it! You are so obsessed with being I don’t know, better than Near, that you cant even be rational anymore. I cant- ”

“Oh, hey! Guys, we’re in time.”, Misa Amane fell into the room and made everyone look at her. She wore a black lace dress, that made her look bizarre in the Military research laboratory.  Behind her a mildly concerned Light Yagami and a bored looking L peaked into the room.

“Whatever.”, Mello puffed and turned his eyes away from Matt, “Call me when we can use the _Knight Rose_.” And with that he stomped past the new comers and left a blinking Matt behind.

Misa put her head back as she watched him go. “What happed to him?” No one answered her and ultimately, she didn’t seem to mind. Instead she made her way to Matt, who still looked at the door Mello left open. “Hi, I’m Misa.”, she extended a hand and Matt took it. “Nice to met you.”, he replied automatic. “I’m Matt.”

“Matt is a great name. Are you _grumpy cat’s_ new partner?”, the blonde girl inquired further. The man snorted at Mello’s nickname and with a grin he watched the corners of Nears mouth twitched incriminating. (Matt loved catching Near smiling. It filled him with joy every time.)

“Come on Ryuzaki! It is rude not to introduce yourself.”, Matt broke eye contact with Near to look at the Japanese man, that was rolling his eyes at a dark headed man, that Matt both knew very well and not at all. When Matt was in college Mello, Near and him always wanted to be like him, like L Lawlight. The brilliant scientist. In retrospect this was very underwhelming.

“Hi Matt, I’m Light Yagami. This is“

„I know who you are Light, L. It’s very hard to go around and not know about Chief Yagami’s genius son and L Lawlight.” I took Lights hand, but something about the kid rubbed him the wrong way. “I’m sure I’m not so well known.”

“If you say so.”, Matt smiled at them for good measure, “If you excuse me, I want to smoke.”

“Be back soon.”, Near didn’t look up from his computer, “I will try to get you into the _Rose Knight_ for the drift.” Matt that held the door open, raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you say that’s a bad idea just now?” Still, Near didn’t look at him but his fingers twirled around a blonde look. “Yes, but I imagine it would cost a lot of energy to convince Mello to do it here, so…”

“Okay see you later, River.”, he said as lightly as possible and closed the door behind him. Than he tried to find his way thru the shatter dome. He found a little door that opened to a fire escape, that seemed to get down to the helicopter landing site.

It was raining a bit and the wind yanked at his clothes, but Matt didn’t care that much. He needed a moment for himself.

He used his lighter behind his hand and inhaled deep. With the exhale, he already felt calmer. It was so, _so_ weird to see Mello again. He was still _beautiful_ , despite his scars. Breathtakingly so.  Matt thought about how much his friend probably hated those scars. How he was still so openly jealous of Nears success, how he was still a fucking _prick,_ but _damn_ \- Hugging him, after so long, felt so right. All Matt wanted to do when they looked at each other was to run a thumb over Mello’s bottom lip, to trace his many scars with is finger tips, to drag his tongue over his collar bone, to-

Okay, that was not good. Nope, definitely not appropriate for this situation.

He blew a little cloud into the rain and watched the smoke dissolve into the wind. With an annoyed sigh he fished for his phone. Why was Mello like that? Why was he, himself, like that?

< Hey lunatic. R u still in Australia?>

He send the text before he could overthink it too much. Still, he wiggled his leg in something that felt like an eternity but was probably only two minutes. Linda texted quick

<Daddy didn’t send for me ye and I’m too stubborn to go unprompted so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯>

<*yet>

<hows your bf??>

Yep, he was regretting this already. _Very_ much. Flicking his cigarette bud away and debating weather or not he should have a second cigarette, while his dumb flew over his keyboard.

<Not my boyfriend>

With that he climbed back inside.

He debated for a moment if he should search for Mello but he knew that talking to him, when he was angry was energy wasted, most of the time anyway. So, he made his way back to Nears lab. In one of the corridors he heard voices. When he came near, he saw two men. One was tall and handsome, black with sharp cheekbones. He conversed with a shorter man, that looked a lot like L at first glance, but the longer Matt watched, the differences became clearer and clearer.

_Not-L_ caught his eye and a shiver ran down Matts spine. This man. Something about him was made him want to run, but he walked past them and slipped inside the room.

Near didn’t seem to have moved. He still hunched over the computer. Wordlessly Matt sat himself on the edge of Nears table. “We are going to the hanger in about twenty minutes.”, Nears voice was low but since no one talked, very clear, “I already texted Mello. He didn’t respond but I guess he’ll be there.”

Matt swung his legs from side to side and looked around the room, watching Nears team work away. For a moment he wondered if he could work here with them when it turned out he and Mello weren’t compatible. The thought of having to go home, was somewhat dreadful. But well, maybe he should call his mother sometime.

Near clicked the table shut he studied before. And turned to Matt: “Are you gonna mope here all day? You should have talked to Mello before coming here, you know?” Matt sighed and hoped down. The team again were acting as if they weren’t listening even though they definitely were.

“I’m not mopping.”, he said weakly. “I don’t even know why I’m here. Mello doesn’t seem too care and-“ Near shot him a tired look and Matt shut it. Near got up hung his lab coat over his chair and just straight up left, Lidner and Giovanni on his heel. Matt blew a raspberry and with long strides, caught up to the group.

They walked in silence on they way thru same looking corridors. Somewhere on the way Aizawa and Matsuda joined up on the way. After a while the room opened up and what seemed a weird mix of cafeteria and hanger. Four huge Jaeger were sitting on the far end while their little group walked past a bunch of tables with chairs.

Matt looked around. There were Misa Amane and L sitting at one of the tables, sharing a piece of cake. Creepy _not-L_ was leaning opposite a red Jaeger. In front of them the beautiful black man was standing next to a tired looking middle-aged man and Light Yagami – the man was Chief Yagami Matt thought. Mello was nowhere to see.

Chief Yagami shook Matts hand and thanked him for being here in such short notice. Matt exchanged niceties. He seemed to be a nice enough man.

Mat cranked his neck to look up at the Jaegers. The one he may, or may not pilot the _knight rose_. A beautiful dark red and black model with a dark reactor in the center of its chest, that almost looked like a rose. Next to it, was a lanky looking Jaeger in crimson red and gold, with horns on its head. And the three-armed white Jaeger with a torn cape was _striker justice_ , L, Lights and Misa’s Jaeger.

Suddenly heavy steps echoed to the hall. Mello in, not looking anyone in the face. “Hey, Keehl. What did bite you in the ass?”, Not-L shouted. Mello flipped him off. “Shut your garbage can, Beyond!”

Mello wasn’t looking at Matt when Yagami chastise him for prolonging Nears and ultimately all of their work by throwing a hissy fit over they drift test. Mello wasn’t looking at him when Beyond was still shouting indecencies at the blonde and when the beautiful man threw him a death glare. Mello wasn’t looking at him when Misa Amane wished them good luck. And Mello wasn’t looking at him the entire time they changed into the uniforms. (And Matt needed every last drop of self-control and decency he had left, to not stare at Mello as he peeled out of the skin tight leather clothes)

Even when they were cart up into the Jaeger cockpit by a little crane, Mello was looking at his shoes. Matt sighed. He wasn’t taking Near’s side or whatever. There were no sides. God, Matt probably should have taken the time to ask Near about his current relationship with Mello. Both men were probably not the people Matt knew in college anymore.

Speaking of Near, the albino was sitting in a little control center monitoring their vitals, Giovanni and Lindner were there with him. They boys stepped into the Jaeger and put on their helmets.


End file.
